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In a surprising turn of events, WitnessLA has learned that Sheriff Lee Baca will announce that he will not finish out his term as the head of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department. The announcement will reportedly come at 10 am Tuesday morning.

Up until now, 71-year-old Sheriff Baca has continued to reaffirm that he was running for a fifth term as sheriff. And that he wasn’t at all worried about challengers Bob Olmsted and Paul Tanaka, who are considered to be the most serious of the candidates running against him. Yet, with the unveiling of 18 federal indictments in December, and many more reportedly still to come, plus a rising tide of department scandals that still shows no sign of abatement, observers were no longer calling Baca’s reelection a sure thing.

Baca is presently serving his fourth term in office. He was sworn in for his first term as sheriff on December 7, 1998.

The pending announcement comes as a shock to even most of those who know the sheriff, sources told us. Baca reportedly spoke to each of the members of the LA County Board of Supervisors individually on Monday night. He reportedly briefed members of his command staff days before, meeting with many of them individually.

WHO WILL TAKE BACA’S PLACE?

It will be up to the LA County Board of Supervisors to choose an interim sheriff to replace Baca, although attorneys from the County Counsel’s office are expected to brief the board in the near future on the fine points of this process.

With the sitting sheriff removing himself from the race, at least one, possibly two additional candidates are likely to enter the contest to join the existing top contenders—Olmsted and Tanaka.

One of those, Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers, is expected to announce his candidacy as early as Tuesday—reportedly with Baca’s blessing, and possibly the support of some of the sheriff’s high ticket donors.

The other possible new entry is Long Beach Chief of Police/former LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, who was considering stepping into the race even before word of Baca’s impending announcement was confirmed. (Last summer McDonnell came close to declaring his candidacy, but then decided against it.)

In the meantime, Tanaka is said to have acquired some deep pocket campaign donors. While Olmsted’s campaign is now being run by heavy hitter veteran campaign consultant, John Shallman, who most recently ran Mike Feuer’s campaign for City Attorney.

59 Responses

This smells like a typical Fed deal for law enforcement exes — resign, and we won’t prosecute. I wonder how he is going to spin this? Maybe health issues? Certainly not “I and my former bestie, Tall Paul, have messed up this organization so badly, that I’m going to leave for the good of the Department”. The big question will be, who will run the place till Olmstead becomes Sheriff?

Does Baca think the feds are like the internal affairs bureau and they’ll drop the case because he’s no longer part of the department? FBI doesn’t do penny-ante rule violations, they investigate serious crimes that can be prosecuted whether you’re wearing a badge or not.

All I can say is THANK GOD! Part One is done, now the even more important Part Two: Get Olmsted elected. All the other Johnnie-Come-Latelies, and there will be a few, must carry the mantle of opportunists and gutless wonders, who failed to take on Baca and corruption head on.

Todd Rogers just might be the guy for this job. He has the Department experience and actually worked his way through. He is educated, thoughtful, tough and has integrity. He would be a guy I would respect, and I think he could turn all of this around and bring some respect back to the Department.

I certainly hope the Board of Supervisors picks someone from within the current hierarchy for the time being. As administrators they have not always picked so wisely as in their picks for DCFS, Probation, MLK. The voters should make the final choice without outsiders making a splash

Folks: This is far from over! No doubt that Olmsted forced Baca out of office and we all must be thankful that Olmsted stood up and faced the giant machine that became Baca! Pat Gomez was also instrumental but alone Gomez would not have been able to force Baca out. But Gomez made Baca start thinking about having to run on a corrupt platform. Remember it was Gomez that initially brought the poor jails conditions to the forefront in 2002.

I say that the Feds still must prosecute Baca and all the others. That includes; Stonich, Waldie (if anyone can find Waldie) and of course Tanaka!!

In the 20th Century two Sheriffs resigned. The first was John Cline in 1921. He was in hotter water than Baca. The second was Cline’s replacement William Traeger. Traeger resigned when he was elected to Congress in 1932. Cline’s replacement, Traeger, and Traeger’s replacement Eugene Biscailuz were arguably the best two Sheriffs in the history of the LASD. Let’s hope a person of similar character is selected to replace Baca.

How many campaign donors are pitching a fit right now because of the favor they curried with Baca? It’s a great day for the people of the sheriff’s department and a great day for the taxpayers of LA County.

Just woke up from my champagne induced coma after last night’s breaking news. I wonder what spin the tanakaites will put on this? Not that they matter anymore, but one of my favorite disciples of Paul used to always tell me “no one cares about custody….”

Bob Olmsted stood up and took a chance when the “Johnny-come-latelies” sat back and were afraid to go against the grain. Bob has been working tirelessly since his campaign began. Bob is the right choice, and has the leadership to prove it. I like Todd Rogers, but guess what folks, he too sat back and watched the circus, and he and was apart of the regime of failure.

Just watched the news conference, entertaining. He certainly took the platform to show the community what we have been experiencing as of late. You walk away going WTF???
Question- Do you think you will be indicted?
Answer- I have answered that, I am not afraid of anything except someone not telling the truth.
What???
Of course the obvious translation would be, “Paul don’t lie we know it was you.” But ya never know, the Sheriff could of had a bad dream last night.

If you haven’t seen the KTLA live video of Baca’s resignation-it’s a must see! What a pathetic joke! If Baca bent over even an inch Hemmold would have stuck it to Baca! The resignation about nothing! And now the cowards are going to come out i.e. Rogers, McDonald and who knows who else! I don’t vote for Johnny come latelys!!How sad we have fallen!!!And then Baca tried to blame Pitchess and Block! Will someone please tell Baca that those two men are dead!!!

Baca floated Terri McDonald as the interim. I’ve met her a couple times. She’s smart, educated, and very crook savvy. Cop or not, she’d do a good job. Keeping her in the A/S spot over custody division after that is the perfect job for her, though.

Sorry to burst your bubble Chicken Wing, but Todd Rogers is the LAST person to get the job done, behind only Tanaka and Hellmold. Please note how he conspicuously disappeared from the photo op behind Baca, and was in a suit instead of uniform. Rogers is all about taking care of Rogers, and he has been that way his entire career.

When Todd chose to take that third star and skip the second, he lost any moral authority to leadership and the mantle of reform. He was the proverbial Silent Sam who looked the other way while good people got burned and bad people ran amok.

This race will be about ethical leadership and reform, not political opportunism. Prepare to see Olmsted in a runoff with perhaps another, yet to be announced candidate.

Baca’s “retirement” is another encouraging development — but much is still needed; still to be determined. With the likes of A/S Jim “Yes, Boss” Hellmold positioned prominently behind Baca and nodding in the affirmative on Leroy’s every word along with Cmdr. Traci Edmonds openly crying at the press conference, it’s not so encouraging the insider executive applicant pool will include mostly folks who are like-minded to the current fool who is Sheriff. The individuals standing behind and aside Baca as he awkwardly meandered through his resignation speech all benefited in recent years from staying silent when they knew of the wrongs being committed right in front of them. I watched previously hard-working and ethical people I worked with as deputies morph into whatever they needed to, to gain favor and rank under Baca/Tanaka’s watch. Thank God the Sheriff is retiring, but let’s not fool ourselves into believing we don’t need much more change to right the wrongs of the last 15 years. Many more indictments must come and ANYONE in the current executive ranks, including Todd Rodgers, Hellmold or any of the others, must be scrutinized to the NTH degree. Their demonstrated chameleon ways illustrate their nimbleness at swaying with the political winds, not at showing their consistency in fighting wrongs and constantly displaying their personal and professional integrity.

I agree we should be very suspicious of any Johnny Come Latelys and that Olmsted is the only man with the stones to stand up early and stand up strong. He’s the front-runner so far as I’m concerned. But I do think it’s good that we have a few strong options–including Rogers and McDonnell–and that they, and Olmsted, have to make a case for themselves, beyond simply not being Banaka. They’re going after the same votes, so they’re going to have to take some specific positions on a range of issues that people actually care about: sentencing, AB109, pre-trial confinement, CCWs, patrol/custody career tracks, personally-owned patrol rifles, discipline … all kinds of stuff. This is a great day and great opportunity for the department and county to not just get a new leader but to make progress on a whole range of issues.

Good riddance!
____
Joseph Zernik, PhD
Human Rights Alert (NGO)
Occupy Tel Aviv
____
* The Human Rights Alert (NGO) submission to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations was incorporated into the 2010 Periodic Review Report regarding Human Rights in the United States, with the note: “corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California”.
* The Human Rights Alert (NGO) submission to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations was incorporated into the 2013 Periodic Review Report regarding Human Rights in Israel, with the note: “lack of integrity of the electronic records of the Supreme Court, the district courts and the detainees courts in Israel.”

It was embarrassing for the department to see Hellmold nodding his head, smiling and glued to Baca during the press conference. Was he there to make sure Baca did not pass out or was he going to push Baca out of the way and make a speech? Have some dignity for Christ sake.

And then Vera standing in the background chewing on gum and laughing does not look very professional at all for the rank of Captain. Save that for when your off camera.

Regardless of who you are backing, more indictments are on the way. From what I heard about what happened in Federal Court yesterday, some defendants are going to be in a world of hurt!!!!

Really unprofessional to see chiefs and captains smacking their gum in the background. Bob Olmstead will prevail.

He needs to be on board though with the political groups like the special reserves, the civilian groups who poured money into Lee’s campaign and daily agendas.

Bob, if you read this and are elected, do not fall to the political extortions these groups have. There was the POST audit and many of the FOS reserves fell victim to the investigation. Unfortunately, a certain civilian management person was a subject of the investigation, but because of his closeness to Lee he stays in the unit that hob nobs with all the FOS clicks. Go figure. Since the Leroy link has been severed, perhaps many changes and transfers will take place. Hellmold doesn’t have a chance. Too young, too inexperienced and really doesn’t have that command presence. [EDIT] We don’t need these people to continue dragging the Department further down the road of un-professionalism

It’s a historic and sad day for the department. Regardless of who you support, things shouldn’t happen this way. I have my own personal feelings about all of the names mentioned on this site, but I always try to remember something I learned years ago in the military- sometimes you need to put aside your opinions and “respect the rank, not the man.” Think about it. The sheriff of Los Angeles county has been forced into resigning. A sad day for his rank, and for all the deputy ranks as well.

@GPA-UTL – Really? YHGTBFKM! Why don’t you ask some of the line CDCR people what they think about mcdonald? I’m hearing stories of people on our department getting “it sucks to be you – ha ha ha” phone calls from their friends and family with the CDCR.

She should have been brought on as an advisor or consultant AT MOST! Assistant Sheriff? Total BS! Interim Sheriff? Even more BS! She doesn’t know jack and has been screwing up the Custody side of things. Now she has all the opportunity to screw EVERYTHING up.

Give you two examples (of many) – she thinks the carotid restraint should be moved to deadly force category or at the very least should be the ‘highest level of force in the assaultive high risk category’. She has no clue about use of force. She admits to not having done ANY street patrol but is adamant that ‘it can’t be any more dangerous than working in corrections/custody’. She’s arrogant enough to make absolutely stupid statements like that even though she knows she has no legitimate leg to stand on to run her mouth.

Pathetic.

Baca stating a civilian oversight committee would be a good idea and then naming her as I/S are two BIG F-yous to the department on his way out.

@sucks: I hadn’t heard that about the carotid restraint issue. And the other comment about street patrol might be a bit off. She’s said she doesn’t think people in leadership roles in custody need to have been to patrol. That’s pretty hard to argue with in light of the majority of custody personnel across the country were hired for just that, not patrol.

I am somewhat concerned about her desire to make too many policies and procedures mimic CDCR’s. Based on the amount of drugs and cell phones COs bring in (and openly brag about making tons of money doing so), I’d say deputies are far and away higher on the integrity scale. With a few notable exceptions throughout the years, we are the best of the best.

Remember, the BOS has to approve the Interim Sheriff. If Baca thought the Board would support his recommendation, he would have straight out recommended Rogers. Instead, Baca knows (has probably been told), they’re not going to approve anyone he recommends.

If he would have put forward Rogers and/or Helmold’s names, and the Board said “No way”, that would have a very negative impact on their future candidacies. Instead, he tosses out A/S McDonald’s name as a throwaway, knowing she doesn’t have any patrol experience and the Board will not approve her as interim.

The Board likely wants another “McD”…Jim McDonnell. There’s a very real chance, if he’ll take it, that McDonnell will be the Interim Sheriff.

@GPA-UTL, I admit I have heard nothing from her first-hand but I trust my sources’ honesty, objectivity, and memory 100%.

I still have pride in our department as a whole but I feel we’ve been slipping for some time. One of the things I used to be proud about was that, even though many other sheriff’s departments around the country were already “dual track”, the deputies on our department were “real” deputies in that we all worked both custody and patrol (and the ones who hadn’t gone out yet would eventually go out).

I’ve lost a lot of respect for many of the custody deputies – mainly the ones who are too scared to work patrol, the ones who joined up for an easy gig and a paycheck, and the ones who weren’t cut out for real police work to begin with, etc. Since the dual-track opportunity came up, we’re getting more and more of those types of people joining our ranks.

I don’t agree with custody-only ranking. But, since it’s going to happen anyway, at least make their insignia different so people can immediately distinguish who is who. I’m dreading the day I might meet up with some custody-only brass with a his/her crap don’t stink attitude trying to give me some BS orders.

For some time now, the high brass on the custody side has been implementing policies and procedures that have been compromising officer safety. Worse yet, they want to implement the same things for patrol and it’s going to get deputies seriously hurt or killed. Ask any reliable source to provide honest statistics regarding the current levels of inmate violence (inmate on inmate and especially inmate on sworn and civilian staff).

I wish I could share your optimism but you know things are screwed up when a deputy in custody who was being assaulted by an inmate gets on the radio to ask a sergeant for permission to use her OC and when a deputy in patrol school who had basically given up the fight after being mounted by an instructor during defensive tactics training, when asked what he would do now, tells the monitoring instructor that he would call for a sergeant.

When I first came on, one of my LT’s in custody gave me some advice regarding the crap that we were all going through as a department then. He said, “this too shall pass”. The way things are, he could have also added “and will happen again”. When he retired about a year later, no one above LT was invited or welcomed at his going away celebration.

At this point, my hopes are that things don’t get any worse than they are now until after the elections. I think that’s pretty sad for someone’s Hopes.

@It’s time – I wish you were right but the pessimist in me says maybe not.

Rumor is that Baca brought her before the BOS just prior to today. Maybe getting their nods before making the announcement? I think the BOS will go for his choice because she’s a woman and a civilian and they probably feel she’s not a threat and will do what they want.

If they choose the Long Beach guy, at least he is/was a cop. IMO, a leader should have spent some significant time working in the trenches and should have a crystal clear understanding of whom he or she is leading and all their duties and responsibilities.

@sucks, ive heard the very same complaints about our A/S Mc Donalld. If you get the chance in private to ask any deputies, sgts, or brass of the ridiculous changes she has made or is trying to make, they will give you the very sad truth of what a mess she is!! Yes custody needs to be cleaned up. We defiantly do not want to be like CDC. They are going from one extreme to another. The morons cant find the middle ground.

Also, the story is Baca did not recomend Hellmold or Rodgers because they were potential candidates and the BOS would not except that. That where she comes in. She allegedly will not run. I will tell you now, at least 3 of the BOS members really like her, she will get the temporary assignment!! Thank God its only temporary!!

Rogers said on the news one problem was “Baca’s executive leadership had failed him and although some are gone, the rest need to go.” May I suggest you start with the dark bald headed guy and short gray hair guy standing in the front row!? They certainly can’t be trusted, continue to obstruct the organization and report back to the almighty.

Celeste. Post 33. Would you mind elaborating on the edit? No names thrown out, so how did it not meet the prong of acceptance when half these posts are nothing but character assassination. Based on history, I think there is nexus to the party in question. mmm

Just from my perspective, I agree with INVESTIGATIVE MIND ‘s analysis and observations. Even as a retiree, I have some insight. Good luck to all the deputies who continue to do the dedicated job. We know you are out there.

#49 – No I’m referring to CR and DB in the front row. You know, the two that wasted the tax payers money by attending SWAT school. [EDITOR'S NOTE: I removed the comment to which this comment refers. Sorry about that.]

To the person who was posting in the last few days under someone else’s nickname—you know who you are—I just deleted all your comments. You generally have a lot to offer as a commenter. But, over the long haul, you have also been prone to playing these kinds of games, embedding within your comments coded slams at people, figuring I don’t know the players well enough to catch you. And many times you’re right, of course. There’s much I miss.

But here’s the deal. If I catch you with this nonsense EVER again, you’re banned from the site. I’m over it. Grow up.

It is very interesting and encouraging to read all the comments re: the up-coming campaign and election. Even thought there are opposing opinions, the fervor of the commenters is giving a voice to the need for a new LASD culture. I grew up in the organization when it was referred to as LASO, Then , that changed because the seated Sheriff said “There is only one Sheriff’ s Office and that ‘s mine “. Thus we have LASD.

The culture of my day would probably not work today. But the need for integrity does. The bulk of the current lASD have it in them to re-direct the organization and restore its good name. And more important, you want to do it. Don’t feel for a minute that one guy at the top will do it. it will take a concerted effort my every member, every minute. The future of LASD is very important to us retirees as well. i want my grand kids to look at the LASD with pride and fondness,
It will be up to you dedicated folks to police the ranks, You can do it. Good luck to you all.

Nancy Drew Says,, I saw those Fools playing SEB at SBI and leading the morning jogs at 0 dark thirty. Those old guys even shaved moustaches to fit in with SEB guys. I’ll continue to CARP so you fools can play Army!! RETIRE PLEASE!

I agree that we have the tools to turn this all around and make our department worth being proud about again. I think Rogers is the guy. He knows what our department should look like and what needs to happen to purge the last decade of destruction caused by Tanaka, Baca, and Waldie. Olmstead was a custody commander, and I’m glad he stood up for what was right when he was here but that doesn’t necessarily mean he is the right man for the job. For those that are complaining about all the changes in custody, you know how it is, the pendulum has swung away from the corruption that Tanaka put in place. The changes are necessary to show we are serious about doing the right thing.

Chicken wing, Todd Rogers declared himself the “reformer” to the assembled media, and it was news to just about everyone on the department. What has Todd reformed? The number of stars on his collar? We already know what Olmsted did when confronted with corruption, and he did what good leaders do – he addressed it and the rest is history.

An easy example of Todd propensity to rubber stamp and look the other way: the recent sergeant exam cheating scandal. Industry standard when a test is compromised is to scrap the test, fire the culprits, and start all over again from square one. Did that happen under Todd’s watch? The answer is no, the department tried to painstakingly claim that the compromise was limited to specific questions and specific people, blah blah blah.

Ask Todd that all important question: why wasn’t the test scrapped? To save a few million? Really? We blew $43 million in litigation costs alone in 2013, and promotional tests have been compromised since Tanaka took over Admin Services back in 2003. That is a fact, and the department has ZERO credibility in the administration of tests.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Rogers is part of the problem. He spent his entire career advancing the interests of Todd Rogers, but never bothered to stick his neck out for others lest he was cast in a negative light.

Rogers had his chance, just like all the other Johnny Come Latelys, to challenge Baca and all he represented last year. He failed to, just like Hellmold, McDonnell, and any other aspiring candidate. Because Olmsted, Vince, and Gomez stepped up to the plate, they have my respect. I will exclude Tanaka from that list because his campaign is an insult to every single honest employee left in the department.

Rogers states he is a reformer and some in the executive ranks need to go. Well come Feb 1 trusting Lee is gone so Rogers better get to work and demote those untrusted to Commander (or encourage them to retire now). Todd needs to do this to prove he means it, otherwise, he is just another opportunist. TODD we are watching!

LATBG- Remember, your WitnessLA preliminary hearing took place and the gavel fell. Now you must answer. Exactly when did your candidate Olmstead confront corruption in the organization like “good leaders do?” I never heard a peep from him. Please don’t say after retirement.

Ithacaboomer: I absolutely agree with you on this. LATBG and others love to talk about how Mr. Olmstead is a reformer and whistle blower, etc… but when did he start to whistle blow and start to “uncover” all the corruption? Let’s see, what was he doing up until these jail scandals broke? Was EVERYTHING great up until his UOA was under scrutiny? I don’t have a beef against Mr Olmstead at all, but you’d have to think that Mr Olmstead could have spoken up sooner if he was this true reformer you speak of? Please explain to me what Mr Olmstead was doing as a DSG, a Sgt, a Lt, then as a Commander, that separates himself from everyone else?

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